From the Editor-in-Chief A
BACK TALK
For more news, information, and articles, please go to the USAASC website at
http://asc.army.mil. Click on the Publications tab at the top of the page.
To contact the Editorial Office: Call 703-805-1034/1038 or DSN 655-1034/1038
Articles should be submitted to: DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY ARMY AL&T 9900 BELVOIR RD. FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-5567
Email:
usarmy.belvoir.usaasc.list. usaascweb-army-alt-magazine@
mail.mil or
armyalt@gmail.com h, the much-maligned acquisition
workforce: target of more oversight, regulation and investigative panels than there are grains of sand on a beach. And
rightfully so! Not the maligned part, of course, but whenever anyone is entrusted with public money to do work on behalf of the American people, you want to ensure that the money is well and wisely spent.
Many people still conjure up stories of $100 hammers, an $800 toilet seat or a $6,000 coffeepot as examples of government waste—until you dig into the detail, which takes most of the fun, and blame, out of it. Methods for allocating overhead costs, unique requirements (beryllium tools that don’t spark as steel can, MIL-SPEC equipment that’s “ruggedized”) and plain old misreporting (the coffeepot was not a coffeepot at all, but an onboard “cafeteria” system) can account for much of legendary “malfeasance.”
the
Nonetheless, the Defense Acquisition Workforce should be on par with, or better than, their industry counterparts. Wisely, after the 1986 President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management (better known as the Packard Commission) issued its report (online at
http://www.ndu.edu/library/pbrc/36ex2. pdf), Congress passed the 1990 Defense Acquisi- tion Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA; online at
Management.aspx) to build such a force. Today the Army and the American public benefit from the best- educated and -trained, most highly certified and most experienced acquisition workforce ever.
As of April 30, 2013, the Army Acquisition Workforce is 42,000-plus strong, and its members collectively hold more than 18,000 undergraduate degrees, 14,000 graduate degrees and almost 800 doctoral degrees. On average, the typical worker has more than 15 years’ experience in his or her field, and approximately 93 percent of the force is certified to exacting DAWIA standards for maintaining proficiency through continuous learning, or within the grace period—the highest percentage ever!
What do all these numbers mean? In short, the level of
competence and capability in Army
acquisition has never been stronger. Want proof? If you are a frequent reader of this magazine, you no doubt have read the quarterly “From the DACM” column by LTG William N. Phillips, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, in which he has recounted a multitude of acquisition success stories.
Over the years, Phillips has documented the delivery and development of unmanned aircraft systems; improved intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities; new and/or improved individual protective gear such as helmets, body armor and flame-resistant uniforms; Abrams and Stryker contract revisions; the 5.56 mm Enhanced Performance Round; precision-guided Excalibur artillery round deployment; and the creation of the Stryker double-V hull.
Te list goes on, but the facts describe workforce members bringing in multimillion-dollar programs on time and on budget to get needed technology to our warfighters. So, if anyone asks, “What has Army Acquisition done for me lately?” the answer is, “Plenty.”
https://dap.dau.mil/workforce/Pages/Career-
Tis issue is dedicated to those women and men who take a concept and turn it into reality. Discover unique perspectives on how to shape the workforce from the Hon. Katrina G. McFarland, assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, and Mr. Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of People Operations at Google Inc. Take a peek at our workforce in the pictorial “Faces of the Force.” Read profiles of professionals who have deployed to support the Army materiel enterprise.
Finally, as of this issue, find the app for this
magazine on Google Play, Amazon and the iTunes Store by searching “Army AL&T magazine”! If you have comments or suggestions, please contact me at
armyalt@gmail.com.
Nelson McCouch III Editor-in-Chief
ii Army AL&T Magazine July–September 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196
